1. About Us
    We are Independent Funeral Planning Services Ltd. We are a private limited company registered in England & Wales. Our registered company number is 13556844. Our registered address is 63, High Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6BXWe are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN:

    The FCA requires its regulated Firms to implement a Complaints Handling Policy that enables the effective identification, investigation and resolution of customer complaints.

    As part of our mission to treat our customers fairly, we are committed to ensuring that customers do not experience any post-sale barriers such as difficulties in lodging complaints. This policy provides you with information on how to complain, what to expect and, if necessary, how and who to appeal to.

  2. Submitting Your Complaint
    We pride ourselves on our customer service and hope you never have cause to complain. If you do wish to make a complaint you can do so formally, in writing, by post or email, or by calling us on the phone, using the following contact details:By Post: Independent Funeral Planning Services Ltd, 63, High Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6BX

    By Email: enquiries@the-ifps.co.uk

    By Phone: 07485 306607

    If you feel dissatisfied with any part of our service, do let us know. We will try to resolve matters as efficiently and effectively as possible for you. We treat all expressions of dissatisfaction in accordance with this complaints policy to ensure your concerns are recorded, investigated and resolved appropriately.

  3. Receipt & Acknowledgement
    We aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible. We will aim to do this by close of business on the third working day following receipt of a complaint. If we can agree a resolution with you within this time frame, we will write by letter or email, confirming the agreed resolution and explain the next steps.There may be occasions when we need more time to resolve a complaint. If this is the case, we will send a written or electronic acknowledgement of the complaint within five business days, which outlines our understanding of your complaint points and identifies the individual who will investigate the complaint.

    Wherever possible, that person will not have been directly involved in the issues which are the subject of the complaint.

  4. Complaint Investigation
    We will endeavour to issue a final written response to your complaint within 8 weeks of initial receipt.Our ‘final response’, will be a written response which:

    (a) accepts the complaint and, where appropriate, offers redress or remedial action (appropriate redress will not always involve financial redress); or

    (b) offers redress or remedial action without accepting the complaint; or

    (c) rejects the complaint and gives reasons for doing so

    and which:

    (d) informs the complainant that if they are not satisfied with our response then they may refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service online, by email or telephone.

  5. Appeals
    If a complaint is not resolved after eight weeks, we will explain why we are not in a position to make a final response and indicate when we expect to be able to provide one or; if you are dissatisfied with our final response you may appeal to the Financial Ombudsman Service who can undertake an independent review of the complaint and our handling of it. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) can be contacted:By Phone: 0800 023 4567 (8am – 5pm Mon – Fri)

    Online: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact-us/complain-online

    In writing: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

    The FOS will contact us about our handling of your complaint. They will either uphold our decision (detailed within our final response to you) or they may decide that an alternative resolution is more appropriate. This may or may not include financial compensation.

  6. Complaints About our Funeral Services
    If your complaint does not relate to the sale or provision of our Funeral Plans (which are financial products, regulated by the FCA) but about the delivery of our Funeral Director’s you may wish to escalate your complaint with the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) or the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF). All of our Funeral Directors abide by their Industry standard codes of conduct. You can find their contact details here: https://nafd.org.uk/ ; https://saif.org.uk/